Mike Flory dedicates his life to serving others

1of4Mike Flory lends his hand to the disabled, indigent, children and the elderly as well as various service groups that assist others.﻿Photo: Bob Levey, For The Chronicle

2of4Mike Flory's community service expands to service for the disabled, indigent, children, seniors, and various groups and service groups that assist others. Mike led the fundraising and management for an elderly lady with a 35 year old arthritic son confined to a wheelchair. The mother and son lived in East Houston and their trailer was falling apart and Mike and his team rehabilitated the trailer and truly made their home life more habitable and safe. Another project was a Hispanic lady in Fort Bend who with two young daughters were living in an unbelievable living quarters inhabited by snakes and rats. Mike led the charge to raise money, demolish the old trailer and secure another mobile home and relocate the home to a safe area. (Bob Levey/Houston Chronicle.)Photo: Bob Levey, For The Chronicle

3of4Mike Flory's community service expands to service for the disabled, indigent, children, seniors, and various groups and service groups that assist others. Mike led the fundraising and management for an elderly lady with a 35 year old arthritic son confined to a wheelchair. The mother and son lived in East Houston and their trailer was falling apart and Mike and his team rehabilitated the trailer and truly made their home life more habitable and safe. Another project was a Hispanic lady in Fort Bend who with two young daughters were living in an unbelievable living quarters inhabited by snakes and rats. Mike led the charge to raise money, demolish the old trailer and secure another mobile home and relocate the home to a safe area. (Bob Levey/Houston Chronicle.)Photo: Bob Levey, For The Chronicle

4of4Mike Flory's community service expands to service for the disabled, indigent, children, seniors, and various groups and service groups that assist others. Mike led the fundraising and management for an elderly lady with a 35 year old arthritic son confined to a wheelchair. The mother and son lived in East Houston and their trailer was falling apart and Mike and his team rehabilitated the trailer and truly made their home life more habitable and safe. Another project was a Hispanic lady in Fort Bend who with two young daughters were living in an unbelievable living quarters inhabited by snakes and rats. Mike led the charge to raise money, demolish the old trailer and secure another mobile home and relocate the home to a safe area. (Bob Levey/Houston Chronicle.)Photo: Bob Levey, For The Chronicle

Mike Flory has many reasons for giving much of his life to community service.

Flory, who turns 68 March 29, says he started volunteering when he was 8, selling plastic poppies door to door with his mother for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He watched his mother tirelessly donate her time to anyone who needed a hand.

"I think I was the leading salesman with those poppies," Flory says. "It's a pretty good feeling when you can help."

In 1973, he moved to Houston and began volunteering at TIRR Memorial Hermann after his younger brother, Steven Flory, then 20, was paralyzed in a car accident in Indiana on the way to his own wedding. Flory's mother died of a heart attack six months later. Emphysema claimed his father the following year.

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"I've always done some sort of community service," he says. "It's my version of golfing, fishing and hunting."

But to deal with the emotional pain of losing his family, Flory began dedicating his time during the holidays dressing as Santa to deliver cheer to children, wounded veterans and the elderly in hospitals and assisted living facilities. It became a holiday tradition, and he eventually started delivering stuffed teddy bearsto elderly and children in area hospitals.Each Christmas Eve, he surprises five families with a Santa visit and gifts.

And for the past 10 years, he's worked with the Impact A Hero organization, playing Santa for families of wounded veterans who are in the hospital.

"I'll be Santa until I can't walk any more," Flory said. "I was in such a depressed state after I lost my family. I'd look in the eyes of the kids and seniors and would make them smile. It helped me heal. It still keeps me humble."

In 1994, Flory chaired the nation's only major celebration for the 25th anniversary of the first man on the moon; 1,200 attended the Houston event.

Then, he and his late best friend, TV personality Sylvan Rodriguez, helped lead the charge to raise funds for the Challenger Learning Center in Fort Bend County, a project of the Sugar Land Exchange Club. The center has encouraged 100,000 students to learn innovative math and science skills.

Before Rodriguez died of cancer in 2000, Flory also co-founded the Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation, which helped provide educational opportunities in science, space and medicine for 14 years.

Until recently, Flory was a board member for the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, which he served for 17 years, and a member of the Houston Downtown Alliance Board. He was chairman and board emeritus for the Fort Bend YMCA for 15 years and served as a co-chair and founder for the YMCA's regional Camp Cloud. The 10-week summer camp has served more 2,000 low-income children.

Flory also served on the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo committee for 15 years and was an executive board member of the Rotary Lombardi Award, which annually honors an outstanding college football lineman.

Flory also reaches out to individuals. He recently led fundraising efforts to help find better housing for an elderly mother with a 35-year-old arthritic son confined to a wheelchair. They were living in a dilapidated trailer in east Houston, so Flory and his team of volunteers rehabilitated the structure to make it more accessible. As well, he helped a Fort Bend County woman with two young daughters living in a rodent- and snake-infested trailer. Flory raised money to have the trailer demolished and secured another one in safer area.

His wife, Linda Flory, shares in many of his charitable endeavors.

"You can't make it through this world without having assistance from someone," he says. "It's the greatest joy you'll ever get out of life is serving someone else. I'm not a wealthy guy, but I'm a rich guy in blessings."

The Houston native covers fashion, beauty and fitness, as well as other lifestyle topics. Joy has interviewed countless fashion designers and stylish celebrities, including Houston's own Beyonce, the late Oscar de la Renta, and more. She also writes about children's books and is the author of "Ava and the Prince: The Adventures of Two Rescue Pups," a picture book about her own rescue boxer dogs.

Joy started Year Of Joy, a nonprofit organization, to spread joy to children from underserved communities. In 2017, Joy was honored with the Houston Humanitarian award for her community involvement. Also, former competitive ice skater, Joy became Houston's first African American figure skating coach while in college.

She currently serves as vice president of the Houston Association of Black Journalists.